The Era of Paying for Content

And while the content might look different, the process is very much the same: Produce something valuable and charge people for access.

Traditional publishers and social networks will have to compete with self-serve platforms to offer creators the best growth, monetization, and infrastructure. That’s a win for audiences who get more diverse content, as well as creators who get a more stable career path.

Traditional business models no longer work in the internet age because they’re dependent on monetizing access to content (production) or selling ad space (distribution). The business of internet-native media shouldn’t be primarily concerned with either of those things. People must pay to support a specific POV – a subculture.

This is what we call lu... See more

But though Patreon’s made significant progress toward its goal to “fund the creative class,” I think its business model is now under threat, specifically because most of the large social media platforms have realized that there’s real money to be made from taking a cut of subscriptions that are driven by their creators. Over the past few years, sev... See more